Continued
by JEM0013
Summary: Ever wonder what would happen if the legitimate heir got his powers back? (continued after last chapter of manga) *mild swearing
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Intro to a New Story

The dark haired boy looked out his window at the rising sun. It was the first day of school for the new year. Nothing new to him, he was, after all, a second year in high school.

He continued to stand there looking out when he heard the sound of his father starting the makings for breakfast. He had taken over that chore recently when his father had gone back to writing but last night his dad had told him to not worry about making breakfast this morning, instead to get as much rest as he could before the first day of school.

_Ha! What a joke…I haven't slept a full night since…_ He frowned. No, it was best not to dwell on it. It was over and done and now, he could have a life outside of duty. He didn't have to train. He didn't have to protect. And he didn't have to live up to family expectations. He was just a normal high school student now.

A sigh escaped from between his lips. He had spent so much time, this past summer, teaching Tokine to bake cakes. He smirked, _and an equal amount of time having her tutor me in math._ Who knew dreams could come true…through hard work and a lot of math.

Yoshimori sighed again before gathering his things and heading down to breakfast. Another normal day was about to begin…

**Background info for the story:**

**This is continuing a couple months after the manga left off! **

**Yoshimori is a second year in high school and is now taking care of the majority of the household chores since his father has returned to his writing career. Yoshi had a lot of time on his hands, even with the chores, and since he's use to training, he's been training at a martial arts dojo to help him channel his energy. The reason Yoshi feels the need to over fill his day is with not having his Kekkaishi powers and not needing to protect Karasumori he feels like he's empty or always bored. He isn't hanging out with Tokine outside of math tutoring and baking lessons since they each have their own set of friends to be around…yes he still likes her.**

**Tokine is a third year in high school. With not needing to train she finds herself studying, usually cookbooks or baking shows, or meditating, as she use to do that anyway. She's been working part-time as a tutor, not only to Yoshimori, but to several younger students as well. She is aware she has feelings for Yoshi but is in slight denial as to what kind of emotions they are.**

**Masamori is still the leader of the Night Troops but does not feel the driving need to be above every one else anymore. With no "legitimate heir" talk he hasn't felt the need to prove himself to his grandfather and he's become more of a brother to Yoshi.**

**Toshimori who is in his final year of elementary school is still supportive of his family. He shares the chores with Yoshi to help ease any burden to their father so he can focus on his writing. Toshi has recently become interested in soccer and finds that Yoshi is the first to be supportive of his interests and tries to help in any way possible.**

**Shuji, the boys' father, has returned to his writing, and though he enjoys being an author again he often feels guilty for leaving the house work to his sons.**

**Shigemori, the boys' grandfather, is enjoying his age. Not needing to worry about training Yoshi to keep him alive anymore he spends most of his time going to special "senior citizen" retreats and hounding the boys to be proper Sumimura's.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A few days into the new school year and most repeating students were frazzled from the demand of trying to find activities they wanted to do, or figure out time to meet up with friends that weren't in their classes anymore.

Yoshi just looked out the window lazily as lunch progressed as normal. He hadn't gone to the canteen today so he sat by himself while most others were frantic in trying to see their friends, his own had abandoned him in search of coffee milk.

His ear twitched as he heard Yurina's soft voice say something about how glad she is there are no more ghosts at school. Yoshi glanced at the timid girl out of the corner of his eye. Her brown hair in its usual pig-tail style was slightly rumpled and she had a dirt smear on her arm. _She probably got trampled in the mad dash to the lunch line._ He saw her smile in her bright, absent kind of way before turning towards her own seat in the classroom.

As the bell started to ring that lunch was over he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. It was still a new experience for him so he jolted a little before sliding in out to check it. He'd gotten a text from his father saying that he had a late meeting with his publisher and that he wouldn't be home in time for dinner. Yoshi shrugged this off and slid his phone back into his pocket before the teacher could notice. He was use to having to make dinner now, he just wondered how much he should make. It was probably going to be just him and Toshi so he could do a simple beef and rice dinner.

The teacher, at that time entered and started the lecture so Yoshi turned his attention to the board. Yoshi, still not being a good student after all the years of not having the expectation of needing to be, didn't bother pulling out his notebook to take notes…but at least he wasn't asleep or day dreaming.

Later that night, after making dinner, Toshi and Yoshi sat down to eat dinner in front of the television. When it was just the two of them, like tonight, they often sat down to eat and do homework at the same time, using the television to make noise in the too quiet house. They were just finishing up when Toshi cleared his throat.

"Um…Yoshi-nii?" Yoshimori looked up. "What do you think about me…trying out for soccer?"

Yoshi continued to look at Toshi quietly before responding. "I think it's a good idea if that's what you want to do…" Yoshi readjusted his thoughts when he saw Toshi tense up. "I mean, as long as you aren't doing it because someone else wants you to I think you'd be great at it."

Toshi relaxed when his brother finished explaining. His reason for wanting to play soccer was two pronged. He wanted to originally because when Yoshi had played it when they were younger he seemed to have a lot of fun and he wanted Yoshi to have fun with him. The second reason was because he felt like he hadn't really done much in the family and he wanted to make something of himself. He looked into his big brothers eyes. "Will you practice with me for try-outs?"

"Sure!" Yoshi smiled at him. "when are try-outs?"

"In two weeks."

Yoshi thought of his work schedule and homework. He sighed internally._ I'll let the boss know I need a couple of days off for a family thing._ "We should be able to get you ready by then…"

Toshi smiled. "Thanks Yoshi-nii!" Hopefully playing a little soccer would bring his brothers real smile back…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Two weeks of intensive soccer training had Toshi feeling confident. His brother had worked him hard with what he could remember from when he played and he was sure that he wouldn't let Yoshi down. Though, it had taken an argument between grandfather and Yoshi to make him feel that confident.

He still felt bad about it but when his grandfather had found out that Toshi was going to try out for soccer he had started to yell at Yoshi for "forcing his interests on his younger brother" Yoshi had argued back finally yelling at the top of his lungs that Toshi was better than he was when he had wanted to play and that he could be a great asset to the team.

Toshi took a minute before his turn to look in the crowd. He saw both Yoshi-nii and Toki-nee but neither his father or grandfather. His stomach clutched. He had wanted to show his dad how his hard work had paid off. Why couldn't he take an hour to come see when Yoshi-nii had taken _days_ off work to help him. _No, don't be whinny. Be happy of who is here…it'll effect the game if I'm not feeling positive._ Or at least…that's what Yoshi had said.

Tokine looked over at Yoshimori. She had been angry with him earlier when he had begged off math tutoring. That is, until she saw why. Yoshi had been adamant about being at Toshi's try outs to be supportive and had promised to be totally focused after try-outs. Then he had begged her to come with him so he wouldn't be Toshi's only loved one there.

Her heart warmed at how supportive he was being towards the youngest Sumimura. She knew how busy he was lately, her mother had commented often enough about how hard they were working when she was asked by Shuji to check on the two boys.

She smirked to herself. She also knew he had make-up homework to do from last week when he procrastinated too long. Though she knew it was actually from when he was helping his little brother and couldn't blame him too harshly she still thought that if he had done that instead of baking a soccer cake he wouldn't have to play catch up with homework.

She turned her eyes to the field and watched Toshi line up with the other boys. She hoped he did well. Tokine knew he'd try his hardest and it would be good but she hoped it was good enough. _How stressed must Yoshi be._ She couldn't imagine the stress and worry going through his head at the thought that he forgot to show Toshi something.

Tokine's eyes slowly traveled back to Yoshi. She watched a dribble of sweat make its way down the side of his face as he continued to focus fully on his little brother. He had said, only a few minutes after arriving, how he had wished he had a camera to record to show their father. Her eyes softened in sympathy as they turned back again to the field. Yoshi was trying so hard to be a good brother...but if he continued to stretch himself this thin, he would surely break.

Yoshi forced his breathing as slow as possible and focused his whole attention on his little brother. _This was a bad idea…I shouldn't have brought Tokine._ His stomach clutched. _Then again, if I have to make a run to throw up she'll still be support for Toshi._

Lately Yoshi had been getting severe headaches. Headaches that would rob him of his sight and breath, making his stomach turn and him break out into a cold sweat. He'd become hyper aware of his surroundings and it often felt like the sensory input was on overload. He felt a milder version of this when he would be pulled from the blank state.

A whistle blew and the tryouts began. Yoshi decided he should try and enter the blank state. He didn't think he'd be able to keep himself from being sick all the way through to Toshi's turn if didn't, but then what would Tokine say…

Another blow of the whistle pierced through Yoshi's thoughts. He just had two more to go before it would be Toshi's turn. He could make it. Yoshi focused on his brother and watched him shift nervously.

Another whistle blow, Yoshi saw Toshi jerk and tense this time. Yoshi decided to use his hyper awareness to test something. He reached his subconscious out towards his little brother and tried to send a calm feeling to him. He didn't know if it worked but the longer he focused on Toshi the less he fidgeted in line.

Another whistle blow and Toshi looked up from the ground. He turned slowly to look at the crowd and seemed to make eye contact with Yoshi before turning to take his turn for try-outs.

Yoshi held his breath when he reached over and gripped Tokine's hand for comfort. They would have a long week waiting for the team to be posted but the smile on Toshi's face while he did his best, was well worth the time and effort that both boys had put in practicing.

Now, they just had to wait…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

He woke up panting. His head screamed in agony and his stomach rolled unpleasantly. Dark brown eyes stayed closed as he ran his scarred fingers through his spiky brown hair.

_Every day, the headaches seemed to be getting worse._

Yoshi looked to the clock on his desk before sighing. _To early to make breakfast. _He got up and went to his desk to grab the small marble looking thing. It was almost perfectly clear with dark purple swirls that twisted around it. Madarao's real form.

Yoshi, still holding onto Madarao's orb, made his way to the training hall. When he meditated (which had become a habit since the blank state training) he took the small orb with him as something to center his mind. Occasionally he could even see and hear the spirit dog yelling at him to focus but since the shinkai had been sealed the power fueling Madarao's spirit had been cut off he hadn't been able to hold his spirit form.

His footsteps fell hollowly on the hardwood floor as he stepped out into the hallway. He paused, listening for any sounds that would let him know he'd woken one of his family members. _I really don't want them to know about my headaches…and if Gramps knew I was still meditating he'd probably find some sort of training for me to do._

He opened the door to step outside. The air was still chilled from the night before and felt good on his hot sweaty skin. Yoshi again paused to listen for any sounds but the sound of soft snoring was his only response. Closing the door to the house he turned and made his way across the yard to the training hall. He wanted to try something new.

He felt a vague sense of the kekkaishi power he use to use on a regular basis…and it was building up. _And usually, that's when I get a headache. _He entered the dojo and pulled one of the houin training marks out. After placing it on the floor he put Madarao's orb in the center and took his place a few feet away.

Yoshi focused on the edges of the square until the edges started to shimmer. He switched his focus to the curve of the marble in the mark. The edges of the swirls sharp. This is when he focused on emptying his mind. Entering a near blank state without going all the way. He focused on pushing the pain from the headache away, pushing it out.

Yoshi was startled when he saw a sparkle around the outside edge of square. He narrowed his eyes and focused again on the familiar mark.

"Ketsu" came the quiet whisper.

Yoshi stood up abruptly making himself dizzy from the fast movement, or maybe, from the shock. There, on the houin mark, on the mark that had been a curse to him so long was a kekkai. The blue barrier a perfect square on the very edge of the mark glinting some of the light from dojo overhead.

_No…_"No…NO!" Shaking, Yoshi made his way over to kneel directly over the kekkai. Did this mean that the shinkai that his mom sealed was leaking power? Why was he able to do this? What about Tokine? Was she able to create a kekkai again?

"Kai!" Yoshi dispelled the barrier and grabbed both the paper and Madarao's orb. He ran into the house and upstairs as quietly and quickly as he could. His heart was racing, pounding his pulse behind his eyes. _What does this mean?_ Yoshi ripped his shirt over his head as he entered his room. He hit the lights and turned to use the dark window as a mirror. He looked over his entire body using the window looking for the houin mark. Panic calming as he didn't see the mark of the legitimate heir on his body anywhere.

Yoshi looked down to the small ball in his hand, leveling out his panicked breathing he began thinking. If he could remember the feeling, the training on creating a shinkai and then make a small enough one he could make one around Madarao's orb. _And possibly give him enough power for him to hold his spirit form. _

A couple of days later Yoshi was down making breakfast when his litter brother came down quietly. The clatter of utensils and the frying pan as he rolled egg was the only sound in the quiet house. Their Grandfather was at a senior retreat and their father had come home late last night so they were letting him sleep in. Toshi came up beside and stood beside his brother not saying anything.

Yoshi glanced at his brother who stood silent watching him. He sighed and ran his hand over his little brothers hair. He knew he was feeling disappointed in his family but was trying to be understanding. He use to feel like that too when he was being trained and it seemed like it was never good enough.

"You get the notice today?" Yoshi asked quietly.

"Mm" Toshi looked down. "Today after school."

"Damn."

Toshi looked back to Yoshi at the light curse. "You have work tonight."

It wasn't a question. Toshi knew when his brothers work schedule almost as well as he did.

"We'll celebrate this weekend."

"Yoshi-nii" Toshi started quietly, "you don't know if I ev—"

"You made it!" Yoshi moved the frying pan over the plates to scrape some egg on them. "Stay positive…you made it."

He let out a quiet sigh. "Thanks big brother."

Yoshi woke up early again to head out to the dojo. He had been doing this regularly and found that going and meditating every morning was relieving the majority of the pain from his headaches. He was also getting the hang of managing his power output.

He, again, placed Madarao's orb in the houin mark and sat in-front of it. Focusing his mind and power into the orb he felt the shinkai start to form. He felt it waiver as too much power shimmered into the orb and pulled back abruptly. When he reined in his power the pain in his head spiked but he forced his mind to blank. _I was so close the other day._

On Friday, after his and Toshi's celebration party, he had gone to the training hall to do some late night meditation. Yoshi thought that the almost perfect trickle of power was due to being relaxed and tired and figured he wouldn't be able to recreate the conditions of the situation but wanted to try. If his Grandfather hadn't come home at that time Yoshi probably wouldn't have gotten distracted and lost his thread of control.

Now, he focused on forming a link with the orb to tie the shinkai to it instead of anchoring it to a place. He felt and saw a spherical barrier wavering around the orb as he slowly pushed more power into forming it. As it solidified, the vague shape of the spirit dog could be seen.

"YOSHIMORI!"

Yoshi sat down with a thump and looked out the window in shock. The sun was starting to peak through. The time had gotten away from him.

"Yoshi…mori?"

He looked down into the green eyes of his long time friend and protector. He smiled.

"Madarao"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It had been several weeks since Madarao had walked out of the training hall after Yoshimori. And though, Yoshi smiled more often it still never seemed to stay long enough.

Toshi knew he was tired. He had been watching his big brother since he came home from his journey with their mom. They were all worried about how little he genuinely smiled and wanted him to do what made him happy but.—

A laugh sounded, making Toshi look to the kitchen doorway as his Grandfather came inside followed by the spirit dog. He was laughing at something Madarao had said. He caught his youngest grandson's gaze.

"Toshimori! You should tell Madarao about how you made the soccer team!" Shigemori turned to the white dog as he sat down at the table across from the child. "He trains just as hard as Masamori always did. We are very pro—"

Toshi slammed his hands down on his homework to cut his Grandfather off. Slowly he turned his eyes to meet Madarao's startled ones. "Yoshi-nii helped me practice a lot." Toshi stood and gathered his books. "If it wasn't for Yoshi-nii having faith in me and coming to try outs I never would've made it. Excuse me, I need to finish my homework."

Madarao watched the young Sumimura walk out and Shigemori frowned after him.

"Where _is_ Yoshimori?"

The old man looked to the spirit dog at the question. "Probably at work. He's been working part time in construction and lately he's been slacking off."

The quiet violet eyes looked sharply at the old Sumimura. "Shigemori, you aren't normally this degrading towards Yoshimori. What's changed?"

He tensed. Was he being degrading? He wasn't being anymore tough on his grandson's than normal. He still had very high expectations for his family. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Shigemori." Madarao stood up. "Have you even stopped to talk to him about how he managed to make me corporeal? Have you not noticed the only time he stays in range of you is during meals? Have you not noticed he doesn't smile?"

"He smiles plenty."

"Not for real my friend." Madarao whispered as he walked out.

Once outside he lifted his snout to the air to scent where his young companion was. Being a physical being had it's perks like eating but being a spiritual form was better for tracking and traveling. _Must make do with what we're given._

He started east, easily scenting the young Sumimura the further away from the residence he got. He felt unease ripple through him the closer he got to the site. Each emotion and feeling had it's own specific scent, altering a normal scent just slightly. Happiness smelled sweeter, sadness salty, anger bitter. And pain smelled humid.

There was a lot of humidity in Yoshimori's scent lately, and it was time someone got to the bottom of the cause.

Madarao followed Yoshimoris scent around town before coming across it at a small café just down the street from a construction site. _'He must be on lunch break'_ He looked in at the window and scanned the many patrons until he finally saw the familiar mop of spiky brown hair towards the back. He was hunched over a table with his head resting in one hand while the other held a cup of ice to his temple. His eyes were closed and his face pinched. As he tensed Madarao caught another wiff of the humid sent.

'_Hmm? A headache?' _Madarao continued watching his young charge. The boy had changed since Chushinmaru had been removed from Karasumori. He seemed like he found new purpose with studying with the Yukimura girl, then, he'd seem like he was still in the same frame of mind as before when he was overwhelmed by his Kekkaishi duties.

'_He's also spending an alarming amount of time meditating'_ Madarao had noticed Yoshimori spent much more time in the dojo in the morning now than he did ever before. Several times when he'd gotten up to relieve his bladder (an old and unwelcome sensation) the boy was already sitting in the darkened dojo.

Worrying about the boy was nothing new, not since he became the legitimate heir, but this new type of worrying, the kind that happened for seemingly no rhyme or reason…

Squeals of joy distracted the white ghost dog. He turned his green eyes towards the sound to see several younger children had caught sight of him and were cooing. Madarao, not willing to sink to the level of a common dog, did not approach them and turned back to looking in the window. He jolted when his eyes locked on Yoshimori's brown ones. _'Damn'_ He sank onto his haunches and waited for the boy to come out. _'No point in trying to avoid it'_ He had already been seen, it was pointless to leave.

Though, when several of the young children got tired of waiting and moved closer to pet him he debated on leaving. Just when a growl started to work it's way up his throat Yoshimori stepped out. A light smirk graced his face before he crouched down and spoke quietly to the children.

"Yes, he is quite the interesting dog."

"Ne, ne! Mister, can we play fetch with him?"

"Does he know any tricks?"

"Do you have any puppies?"

Yoshimori fielded the questions gently (surprisingly) as he leaned in to run his hands over Madarao's head. At the feel of his fingers behind his ears Madarao felt a warmth spread over him and he closed his eyes in pleasure, breathing a sigh of relief that the children had stopped petting him when Yoshimori had reached for him.

Then, Madarao's eyes snapped open as he caught the scent again. The humid scent that seemed to radiate of the brown eyed boy beside him. His green eyes tracked up to Yoshimori's face. No pain showed on his features, though his eyes seemed just the littlest bit duller than normal.

He laughed at something one of the children said before standing up and looking down at his ghost dog. "Come on Madarao, it's time to go home."

The children waved and cooed as the dog turned away and walked with his 'master'. As they strolled down towards the construction site Madarao looked back at the boys face. _'I've known him for years, I've been in charge of helping him and keeping him safe'_ The scent wafted again. _'so why is it I'm just noticing how bad his pain is?'_

"So," Yoshimori stopped and crouched down to be eye to eye with his faithful friend. Green eyes met brown, "what brought you out to the café?"

Madarao looked away before sighing, "You're hurting"

"I'm not hurt"

"I didn't say you were hurt." Madarao looked back into those brown eyes, "I said you're hurting." He leaned up so his paws were propped on Yoshimori's knees. "Headache?"

Yoshimori's eyes had widened slightly. The small tell confirmed his suspicions but he wanted to hear it. Yoshimori had always been vocal when it came to his dislikes and his passions but he rarely spoke of any pain or sick feeling he was having. "Kind of" came the quiet reply.

"Everyday?"

Yoshimori looked over Madarao's head at that. "It's fine." His voice was shaky as if thinking about the headache made the pain worse.

In response to Yoshimori's reply Madarao growled low in his chest before pushing off his knees. He walked away to go home as his thoughts circled what he'd learned. _'It's not fine, Yoshimori.'_

Later that night Madarao bellied under the table to lay his head next to Toshimori. He was determined to find out everything the younger Sumimura knew. When Toshi was done with his next math problem he looked down to see green eyes staring at him.

"Madarao?"

"Do you know what's wrong with Yoshimori?"

Toshimori's eyes, so like his older brothers, darkened in sadness, "No, but I know whatever it is, it's been going on since he came back with mom's shikigami." Toshi stroked his hand over Madarao's head. "He also stares at his hand sometimes. Where his houin mark use to be."

Madarao's ears twitched in thought. _'He's been staring at where his mark was.' _His green eyes closed as he continued, _'He's meditating almost every morning.'_ He growled low in his throat, _'He somehow made me corporeal.'_ Madarao stood and wandered out towards the dojo.

The fact, alone, that Yoshimori was able to make him solid, told him that his kekkaishi powers returned. But to what degree?

'_The headaches'_ Madarao's eyes glinted eerily with anger. _'Tokimori use to get headaches when his power would build up,'_ which wasn't often since he was so busy exterminating demons.

"Damn, he has too much power…"


End file.
